Gentle Beginnings
by superwoman1015
Summary: Newly admitted love can be a beautiful thing. It can be hard and fast, or it can be slow and gentle. Giving the couple a chance to warm up to each other and remember all the times in their past that they were close but never touching. Gentle conversations and slow touches and just being able to be together
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: **I've not been writing much lately, not for fun anyway. Life and school have been getting in the way. It's been so long that I've changed my username and I doubt anyone has noticed, I've just not been active enough. But I wanted to tell the story of Jane and Lisbon and the first few days of their newly admitted love, and while I originally sat down to write an up against the wall tear your clothes off sort of fic, that is not what happened in the least bit. Instead, I came out with something gentle and tender and soft. I thought about how much they already knew about each other, about their eminence shared history, and of all the moments that they had shared over the years and this is what happened. I'm several chapters in at this point, but each could stand on its own if it wanted. I'm writing this more for me, wanting to revisit an old friend that is the Mentalist. This first chapter was written on my cellphone. I had to get it out and get it out fast. Please forgive any errors. Thank you for sharing in these memories with me, it's been a hell of a ride.

**Gentle Beginnings**

The thrilling, jittery feeling of new love was still hanging around her head as they left the tiny TSA office at the small airport in the Florida Keys. She wasn't sure how much of her lightheadedness was due to Jane's kisses over the interrogation room table and how much due to the fact that she hasn't slept in almost 24 hours.

"The hotel is on your dime now, Jane." Abbot said as they walked through the parking lot to where Abbott's car was waiting. Lisbon knew better than to ask how Jane had gotten to the airport. That would come in time. Now she was just ready to enjoy the newfound feeling of hope growing in her chest.

"Lisbon, I'll see what I can do about D.C.," Abbott said add they got into the car, "but I don't imagine it will be too hard to get you back on our team in Austin, if that's what you want of course." The last sentence was added as an afterthought and made Lisbon chuckle.

"That would be great, Sir." They drifted into silence as they drove through the small town to the Blue Bird Hotel. She was sitting in the front next to Abbott, Jane behind her. Jane kept reaching his hand up and touching her shoulder, neck, arm. It seemed to her as though now that he had made his emotions known and she had come to him he wanted to make sure she didn't disappear.

"We've got things pretty much wrapped up with the case. Lisbon, you have a bit of time off, what with no longer moving, and I'm sure we will survive without Jane for a few days if you guys..." Abbott trailed off, not sure if he should finish his thought.

"We'll keep you posted," Jane said distractedly as he and Lisbon got out of the car.

"Thanks for the lift," Lisbon said with a sight wave. She had her bag slung over her shoulder and was standing closer to Jane than was probably necessary, but she didn't care.

They made their way to Jane's hotel room, the scene had been cleared, and they were free to use it for as long as they needed, provided they wanted to keep paying the high nightly rate.

Lisbon placed her bag on the ground and sat down in one if the chairs that she was sure just hours before had held at least one of their murder suspects.

"I didn't realize how exhausted I was until we got back here." She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

"We've both been up for much longer than our bodies are used to anymore. And it's been an emotionally trying day in more ways than one for both of us." Jane said from behind her. She sighed again as he placed his hands on her neck and started to massage the pain and frustration of the past few months out of her muscles. "You've always carried your tension in your shoulders. I can tell when you've had a bad week by the way you rub your neck at the end of the day when you think no one is looking."

She just mumbled in consent, not denying it or calling attention to the fact that he watched her more than she realized. She leaned her head forward and focused on the pleasure that was his hands on her skin. It was similar to the touch in the car on the way to the hotel, but at the same time so much more intimate than they had ever allowed themselves to be. It was amazing the emotion and meaning behind a simple back rub.

Lisbon tried to stay focused on the feeling of Jane's hands on her, but found that the longer he continued, the more relaxed she became and the closer to sleep. She felt the pull of the day on her and sighed.

"As much as I would love to stay here and just let you keep ministering to my aching bones, I fear I may fall out of the chair if I don't get to sleep." Lisbon said reluctantly, drawing straighter in the chair and turning to look at the face of the man she could now admit to herself that she loved.

"Why don't you get ready for bed and I'll make sure that the room is dark enough." Jane said, backing up slightly.

Ten years of unconventional courtship and an intimacy she hadn't shared with even the man she had been willing to uproot her life for and she found herself nervous at the thought of Jane seeing her in her pajamas. She took her whole bag with her into the bathroom, suddenly embarrassed for no good reason. She undressed slowly. She had, on lonely nights long past, allowed herself to think about what it would be like to be with Jane. On the cold nights in the two years he was gone she found herself often thinking of what life would be like with him, what it would be like to share a bed with him, to have him touch her, look at her, with want and lust.

She thought about a night so long ago it seemed like a dream, where she had danced around in an old jersey secretly wishing that it wasn't an unethical, slightly homicidal, psychiatrist she was trying to snare. She smiled at the memory. She had been dancing for Jane really. The man the trap was set for would never see her dancing in nothing but a shirt.

With that memory fresh in her mind she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and slipped into the shorts and tank top she had brought for pajamas.

When she opened the door, she saw Jane awkwardly standing next to the bed as though he wasn't sure what he should be doing. The curtains on the windows were shut tight against the rapidly rising sun and in the glow of the light from the bathroom, Lisbon could see that the "do not disturb" sign was missing from the inside of the door.

"Why don't you get ready," she said softly as she made her way in the semi darkness to the bed.

"Ok."

This was still so new for both of them, this next step in their relationship, that neither wanted to make a mistake. Lisbon climbed onto the bed and under the covers; she wasn't sure if housekeeping had been in or if the bed had never been slept in, but she was betting on never slept in.

She had closed her eyes and was drifting off when she heard the bathroom door open and felt the bed dip down as Jane climbed in next to her. She could feel his warmth radiating from him and unconsciously moved closer. He tentatively put an arm around get and she burrowed into his warmth.

She wanted to say I love you but instead turned slightly in his and so that she could see his face and spoke quietly to him. "Do you remember Dr. Carmen?"

"The psychiatrist who tried to frame you for murder? What about him?"

Lisbon turned back around as she started taking. "I was thinking about how we got him to confess. Partially faking a mental breakdown, throwing chairs through office windows, donuts from Marie's, Bosco," the name said quietly, even after all these years the pain if his death still lingered, "and dancing to the Spice Girls."

"I remember that dance," Jane whispered in her ear.

"I was dancing for you." She paused for a second, thoughtful before continuing. "Not in an 'I'm trying to seduce you' way. But I knew you were watching. I was wondering what you were thinking of me. If I was having any effect on you."

"I was still so lost at that point. I saw you. I didn't want to lose you. You meant so much to me, even at that point. I could see Bosco closing in, feel Red John slipping away," this was the first time he'd said that name since he'd come back to the states and it felt dirty and foreign on his tongue. "I wouldn't admit it to myself, but that dance played in my dreams. It kept me going while I was in Vegas. The thought of life after and what it could mean."

"I still have that jersey," she said through a yawn.

"You'll have to show me." He whispered again, knowing that they both need sleep.

They lapsed into silence and drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: **I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my little story. I'm thrilled that so many seem to be enjoying it. I've got two more parts after this one, so I may end it there or I may keep going. It depends on if the story tells me its done being written. This part wasn't written on my phone, but I hope that doesn't detract from the appeal :)

**Gentle Beginnings 2**

Lisbon woke slowly, not wanting to leave the dream that involved warmth and love and bliss and her and Jane. Though she couldn't point to one thing in particular in the dream that made it that way, just the feeling of contentment. She could still feel Jane's arms around her, marveling that they had both been so exhausted that neither of them had moved, even in their sleep.

She didn't want to leave the cocoon that was his arms, but the uncomfortable sensation of a dry mouth and a full bladder finally convinced her that a few minutes from his arms was necessary. The pale yellow glow of a built in night light, intended to keep guests from stubbing their toes in the search of the light switch, was all the light she needed as she fumbled her way to the toilet and sink.

She didn't know what time it was and was considering checking her phone to find out when she heard a strangled call from the bed. Rushing over she saw Jane thrashing, legs tangled in the sheets, arms flailing about as if looking for something.

"Jane," she called, reaching an arm out to touch him, wanting to comfort him, but wary of the limbs flying about.

With a start he woke, staring wild eyed at her. She turned on the lamp by the bed, casting a soft glow.

"Are you ok?"

He didn't say anything at first, just nodded and then pulled her to him, crushing her to his chest.

"I had a dream," he mumbled into her hair, peppering her with light kisses.

"Red John?" That name again, she didn't like saying it any more than he had before they fell asleep. But she knew that before, all those years ago in California, when he woke with a start that Red John had been playing a staring roll in his dreams.

"No, but it may as well have been." He had settled down, not as frantic as he had been when he first woke and he loosened his grip on her, allowing her to move fully onto the bed next to him. She kept her head on the undershirt he had worn to bed, listening to his heart beating and the way his voice vibrated through his chest.

"I dreamed that I lost you. That you slipped through my fingers like sand. No, there was no Red John, no shadowy figure, just distance. You couldn't hear me, I couldn't reach you. And it felt as though the world was crashing down on me."

She knew that he didn't need simple platitudes. Empty reassurances would not suffice here; they had known each other for far too long for that to work. Instead, she shared with him a memory.

"Do you remember that case we had, the one with the team of executives on a retreat in the mountains?"

"The one with the letter telling us where a murder was going to occur and then a body fell out of the sky?"

"Yes, that one."

"I do remember, it had rained at one point, and there was a bomb, and we spent a lot of time together in my car."

"Well, I remember you telling me that I needed to trust you. I remember eating apples and strawberries from a roadside farmers market and talking about leadership retreats and trust falls. And I remember you goading me into doing a trust fall with you. I remember being so scared that it was a joke to you. That you were going to let me fall. But you didn't. You've always been there to catch me. And, I've always been there to catch you. When you ran off to Vegas to try to trick Red John I was there. I would have been there sooner had I known."

He rubbed his hand up and down her back, enjoying their closeness. "You have always looked out for me, haven't you?"

"I like to think that I have, even when you were being a pain in the ass." This brought a chuckle that reverberated through his stomach and made her smile. She loved his laugh. He didn't do it nearly often enough.

"Remember the first case we had with Van Pelt?"

"Yes, you were pissed off at me because the case before the mother of a murdered girl had shot her husband for molesting the daughter."

"Yes, but to be fair, you really should have told us what was going on _before_ she had the chance to get a gun."

"I like to think that I've gotten better since then."

"That's debatable."

"Anyway," Jane said, slightly louden than necessary, but with humor in his voice, "is there a reason you bring up that disastrous case?"

"Only as an example of a time I tried to save you from yourself. Of course I played right into your plans…"

"You couldn't have known. And besides, it did mean a lot to me, that you cared enough about me and my mental health that you wanted me to see someone. Even if that someone was a killer pretending to be Red John."

"You made me a jumping paper frog." She smiled at the memory.

"I remember. It made you jump too." She could tell that he was smiling, even though she couldn't see his face.

"I still have that little frog."

"Really?" He was surprised. He'd never imagined Lisbon as the type to cherish keepsakes.

"Yes. I've kept a lot of little things over the years from you. They sit in a box on my shelf next to another box well-worn with use that holds a bundle of letters sent from half a world away."

"My letters."

"I read each one a hundred times. Hoping, praying, that there would be something in them to give me hope of seeing you again. Of being close to you again."

"But I'm here now."

"Yes. And that is more important than all those letters with a decided lack of hidden meanings."

The fell into silence. Both thinking of letters and lost chances and hope and renewal. Things between them may not have taken a typical route, but they still got to the same destination.

Lisbon was just falling asleep again, comfortable and safe in Jane's arms, when the trill of a cell phone broke through the peace.

"The real world calls," Jane mumbled. He had been close to sleep as well.

Sighing, Lisbon got up to answer, promises of days off and time to relax and enjoy this new found love flying through her head, hopes being dashed with each ring of the phone.

"Lisbon," she answered after seeing Abbott's name pop up on the caller ID. "Umhum, yes. Ok. We will. Thank you again. I'll be sure to let him know."

She hung up and turned to Jane with a smile. "Abbott pushed through the transfer cancelation paper work. I'm good to go back to Austin. I start back up with the team in a month. I get some time off to get everything situated."

"That was nice of him to let you know."

"Yes it was." She sat, leaning against the desk where her phone had been laying, looking at Jane in the bed. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of striped pajama bottoms. She'd never seen him in pajamas before. In all the years she'd known him, she never seen him in anything but a handful of outfits. She decided that she like this look on him, hair tousled from sleep, a few days beard growth, rugged and sexy and handsome; the stuff dreams were made of.

A grumbling at the pit of her stomach reminded her that it had been lunchtime the day before that she had eaten last and she sighed looking at the time on her phone. It was after noon. "We should get lunch." She said, putting the phone down and standing a bit straighter.

"We could order in." Jane said, stretching and watching Lisbon as she nervously fiddled with the hem of her tank top.

"Let's explore the island. You picked this spot as a destination to seduce me, so let's see what it is about this area that makes it so romantic, so much so that you felt the need to fabricate evidence to get me here." The last bit was said in jest, but Lisbon could tell that the reminder of what almost wasn't was still fresh and raw in his mind.

"Lunch out then it is." They dressed quickly, sharing the bathroom like they had that morning. They didn't make a big deal of the fact that they weren't dressing in front of each other, they would get to that in time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: **I moved over the summer, and because I'm cheap haven't gotten internet hooked up yet. I've been making due with using the internet when I'm at school. So, that is why, despite having this and one more (and probably the last) chapter to go I wasn't able to upload. Because, who goes to school on a Friday if they can avoid it? Anyway, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. It means the world to me.

**Gentle Beginnings**

"I recall you telling me once," Lisbon said as she took a bite of her fresh seafood salad, "that to seduce me over a meal would be sophomoric."

"You remember that?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I? You were being sexy and over confidant and let's face it, that restaurant in the redwoods was magnificent, even if the chef was a murderer and his wife a sociopath."

"I still wonder why you denied thinking that I was going to try to seduce you."

"Because you were arrogant and full of yourself and too damn sexy and charming for your own good." Lisbon joked.

Jane laughed, taking a bite of his chicken pasta. "Seriously though, why? The reason still intrigues me."

"Don't you know?" Lisbon asked coyly, "I thought you could read my mind."

"No, I can only make educated guesses. But this time, now, I want to know."

"I think…I think that maybe I was starting to develop feelings for you that weren't exactly platonic in nature. I think that I was trying to fight an attraction to you. You were arrogant and conceited and damaged beyond belief, and the idea that you could read me so well frightened me."

"I frightened you?" Jane was a bit shocked at that. He had guessed that she was fighting an attraction to him at the time, he was oh so arrogant, especially then, but fear had never been something that he had considered.

"Not you, really. But I was afraid of what being attracted to you meant. I've always had a thing for broken men, for men who weren't good for me, and I didn't want to fall into that again. I didn't want to fall into your trap."

Jane contemplated her for a moment before speaking. "I think, even then, I was trying to convince myself that I didn't care about you." He was quite again before continuing quietly. "We met McAlister on that case."

"I thought about that case a lot, after you left. I analyzed every conversation I could remember. I even managed to get my hands on the old case files to review every shred of evidence, to see if there was something anything, that would point to him being…" She refused to say the name again, refused to let the ghost of a cowardly man come between her and her new love. "The only think I could ever find was that awkward encounter he had with Van Pelt. I wonder if that's when his obsession with her started. He had a thing for red heads after all. I wondered…I wondered what would have happened if we hadn't been there. If the recording equipment had malfunctioned. If something had happened and she'd been alone, without contact on that road…"

"I thought of that too. I put her there, in the cross hairs…"

They fell silent, the light playful banter that they had started the meal with falling away. But Jane wasn't willing to let the past bring them down. "We should tell her, Grace, and Rigsby what happened. About the plane," and he noticed the way Lisbon blushed at the reminder of the spectacle he'd made just the evening before. "Rigsby told me the last time we saw them, before Grace was kidnapped, when you were still dating…" and this name Jane refused to say, knowing that that was a conversation for another time, "He said they always thought that we would get together. This would make them happy. Help them get through the tough parts of marriage that happen when a baby is born."

"We should. I think I'll call Grace when we get back to the room later. I was close with them when I was in Oregon. They had moved to Northern California, trying to put some distance between them and Sacramento. Ben's mom had gotten a new job on the Oregon-California border, another fallout of the Blake association, and so we were all relatively, close. I was there when Maddie was born. I'm her God Mother actually. I miss that cutie. And Ben too. He's really grown into a responsible older brother. He's very protective of his sister." Her voice was light and happy. She always enjoyed talking about their old colleagues. They were more like family then old co-workers.

"I missed a lot when I was gone, especially with them, didn't I?" Jane asked, trying not to get weighted down with the sadness and pain of those lost years.

"But you're hear now, and we can start new, start fresh, like we should have to begin with." Lisbon placed her hand over his where it rested on the table, not paying attention to the ring that was still displayed prominently on his finger. Much like the conversation about Pike, the ring was for another time as well.

"I'm just glad to see me advice to Rigsby finally paid off." Jane said as the waiter came to clear away their nearly empty lunch dishes.

"What advice?"

"He wanted to know how to seduce women, how to make woman want you. More specifically, at that point, he was still trying to get Grace to give him the time of day. My advice to him was to shower Grace with love and affection."

"Love and affection? Did you ever follow your own advice?" Lisbon arched an eyebrow at him in question.

"Well," Jane shifted a bit under her gaze. Surely, Lisbon could remember the case of Jennifer Sands who killed her husband before he could run off with his daughter, his lover, and a fortune in diamonds. The woman that he had been bound and determined to seduce, just to show Rigsby that it could be done. "You mean, besides with you?"

"If the hell you put me through over the years was you showering me with love and affection then I think we have different definitions of love and affection." The waiter brought the check and Lisbon pulled out her credit card. She had known Jane for far too long to expect him to have either cash or a credit card on him with which to pay.

"In my own strange way…I was trying to keep you at arms distance. You were dangerous to me, even in those early years. I could tell that there was something about you. A desire to fix things that are broken, to fix me."

"You tied to seduce Jennifer Sands." Lisbon said suddenly, remembering the case where Jane had gotten just a bit too close to the eventual guilty party. "And Kristina Fry."

The last name gave Jane pause. He hadn't thought about her in years. He wondered if she was still living a shell of a life, if she was wasting away in some home somewhere, forgotten by the police and former clients alike.

"You were always jealous of my attention to her." Jane said as they got up from the table and walked in unspoken agreement towards the beach.

"It's because I was falling I love with you and you were afraid to see it." She reached out and held his hand, not wanting to let him go. Touching him was still new, still fresh in her mind and she wanted to take advantage of the times she could do it here, in relative seclusion, before the prying eyes of an office building got a hold of them.

"Perhaps."

"She's still alive, you know," Lisbon said after a moment. "Kristina. She's still alive in a long-term care home in Sacramento. I went to see her after Red…After McAlister died. I told her that it was over, though I doubt I got through. They doctors have been working with her. There's a therapist that she will talk to on occasion, but even then, it's fragmented, like talking to a ghost. She eats and sleeps only when someone is sitting there watching." Lisbon sighed, sad at the thought. "She was a good woman."

"That she was." The walked hand in hand in silence until they reached the sand. They took their shoes off and left them next to a streetlight, hoping that they would still be there when they got back. The sand between their toes and the waves tickling their ankles made them both think of a walk along the beach just a few short days before.

"I've always loved the beach. I miss the California beaches, the Southern California beaches." Jane said as the breeze blew gently at their shirts, tugging at Lisbon's hair. "I remember a case we had; a group of teens killed one of their friends because they accidentally killed a security guard."

"Yes, the girl had an alcoholic father," Lisbon said, the case standing out clear in her mind. She remembered the father, wondered if he took her advice and got help for the sake of the two young children still at home, or if they had become victims much like their sister.

"Yes," Jane said oddly, looking at Lisbon out of the corner of his eyes, making a note of another conversation for another time. "I spent hours on the beach building sand castles trying to figure that case out."

"We should do that." Lisbon said, stopping suddenly in the sand.

"Do what?"

"Build sandcastles. I haven't done that since I was a little girl. We went on vacation to Florida, to see my Great Aunt Bulla, my grandmother's sister. She helped raise my mom and they were very close. Her house smelled like mothballs and rose water and she made nasty mashed potatoes. But she lived on the beach and my brothers and I spent all week playing in the sand and trying to beat each other at who could make the tallest, strongest, best sandcastle."

"Well then, let's do it."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Jane was enthusiastic. He loved seeing playful Lisbon. The happy side that she rarely let out to play. They sat in the sand in their regular clothes, mounding it around them, not caring that it was getting all over them. They stayed in the sand for hours, forgetting about the time, just enjoying being together.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: **I'd like to thank everyone who read my story, especially those who took the time to leave reviews. I've decided that this is going to be the end of my exploration, at least for now. I may do more later, but it won't be on this story. I've enjoyed taking the journey and exploring the first day or so of their new love. Tank you again for reading and enjoy the final chapter.

**Gentle Beginnings 4**

"We should give that restaurant downstairs another shot." Jane said after they returned from their walk on the beach. They were each still covered in sand, but happy.

"It did look like they had good food. I never got a chance to order." Lisbon said, playing with his hand that sat loosely on top of hers.

"I didn't either. I was being that same egotistical jerk that I had been all those years ago. And I wasn't even taking my own advice. I was planning to seduce you over that meal. I was going to convince you to stay with me, but in a way that didn't open myself up for hurt."

"See how well that worked out." Lisbon said, resting against him.

"Yeah, well, I've learned my lesson. Sad that it took me 10 years to get it, but I know that you always want the truth from me." He smiled down at her and was struck, not for the first time, at how beautiful she was. That he almost lost her was more than he could bear. He brought his hand up to her cheek and stroked gently before leaning down and kissing her for the first time since the airport. Her lips were soft and tasted slightly of salt from their time at the beach. Her hand came up to tough his face and she responded to his kiss. Teeth and lips and tongues. But still soft, still gentle. There was a hunger, but it could wait. They both had the sense that they had all the time in the world. That they didn't need to rush into things, that their relationship was more than lust and sex.

"I remember the first time I saw you kiss a girl." Lisbon said after they settled back down next to each other. She glanced sidelong at Jane to see him blushing slightly. She didn't say her name aloud; Sophie Miller had been a casualty of the hunt for Red John. Another tragedy to haunt their past. And it would not do to bring her back up. Better to dwell on the light, on the kiss on the cheek and leave it at that.

"Well, yeah, but you had sex with Walter Mashburn." Jane said, trying to move the conversation off himself.

"It was worth it. I would recommend him to anyone who asked."

"Really?"

"What, jealous of the competition? Besides, you've had more than one possible suitor in the time I've known you. Erica Flynn comes to mind. She manipulated you; I never thought I'd see the day."

"She didn't manipulate me, I allowed her to...right, there's not a good way to finish that is there?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Lisbon said with a laugh. "Do you still have those dresses?"

"Dresses?" Jane asked, thrown slightly by the sudden change if topic. "You mean from last night? Of course."

"I'm willing to give that pink one another go if you're serious about dinner."

"I would love for you to accompany me to dinner, no Abbott this time, no Cho. No glasses of water in the face."

"Well, so long as you promise to behave, I promise not to throw any water at you."

She showered first, taking time to make sure that all of the sand was off her skin, out of her hair. She used the hotels shampoo and body wash, they were nicer than hers, and she felt the need to primp more than she had the night before.

Jane was not in the room when she came out; a note laying on top of her bag, where she would for sure see it when she came out of the bathroom read simply:

_Made a reservation for 8:30, I'll meet you there. Love, PJ_

The word—love—in print, made her want to tear up again. She still couldn't believe how close she had come to giving up this happiness that had refused to leave since she walked off the airplane the night before. If someone told her that Patrick Jane, of all people, would be the one to make her feel like a schoolgirl she would have laughed. She'd denied any feelings for him for so long, refused to believe that he could feel anything for her aside from a dependent sort of friendship. All of his manipulation and trying to coerce her into staying in Austin, staying with him, and it was a heartfelt declaration of love that did her in.

She dressed slowly; she really did love the dress. It brought color to her face. And it made her breasts stand up and pay attention. She felt a little silly thinking of that, but it was a trend she'd noticed lately with the outfits that Jane was picking for her to wear. Not that she minded. He'd always had good taste.

She made her way down the stairs, much as she had the night before, but this time she didn't see Jane waiting for her at a table. The dinning room was a lot busier too, something she was expecting due to the later time. She gave her name to the man seating people and he showed her to a table, towards the back of the room that still afforded a view of the stairs and doorway so that anyone who came into the restaurant was in her full view.

She was glad that she had just sat her water glass down when she saw Jane. He was walking down the stairs much the way she had done just the night before. They made eye contact and he smiled at her. He was wearing a suite, not the same tired one he'd been wearing day in and day out since his return from exile, but a sleek black suit that fit him perfectly. He looked like the Jane she'd started falling for all those years ago, broken around the edges but charming to a fault. And he was hers.

"I thought I'd match you this evening and dress up a bit." He said as he slid into the chair across from her.

"You clean up good." She said, feeling almost shy for some unknown reason. He had shaved, clean; she hadn't seen him that way since before he'd left. As much as she'd loved the fine layer of scruff he'd cultivated over the years, his clean face made him look younger, not as broken.

They ordered dinner and just sat in silence, Lisbon couldn't stop looking at him. "I haven't seen you this dressed up since that CBI fundraiser, you remember that? When we had the jewelry store robbery?"

"I remember. You put that old worn leather jacket over your ball gown. And you were stunning. I still think that you would look magnificent as Queen Teresa." She laughed at the memory of him holding the tiara up to her while she was trying to work. She'd loved their playful banter, even then, even though she'd acted annoyed.

"I'm not the queen type."

"Oh I don't know." And then out of seemingly nowhere he pulled a slender rectangular box and placed in on the table in front of her.

"What's this?" She asked, a note of pleasant surprise in her voice.

"I got this for you, before we got here, to go with the dress. This one, the pink one. I had really hoped you'd wear it. It's beautiful on you. You are beautiful in it. You're just beautiful. Though it probably would match anything you wore." He scratched the back of his neck as though he were nervous. "I hope you don't give this back like the last time I gave you jewelry."

"You know why I couldn't keep those. I was your boss. It really was too much. I do wish, at times, that I had kept them. It was the most expensive, extravagant gift anyone had ever given me, and that includes the pony."

"I knew you would love that."

"I still can't believe you got a pony past security without them tipping me off."

"I paid off the guard"

"Seriously?"

"No," he said with a grin. "I just gave him some dating advice. I suggested that he ask out the new agent in narcotics and it paid off." He shrugged as she laughed. Those days at the CBI seemed so long ago. "Open your present."

She picked up the box with shaking hands and flipped open the lid. Lying on a cream color cushion was a necklace of delicate silver woven with tiny pearls and diamonds. "Oh, Jane! This is gorgeous!"

She pulled it out of the box to examine it and he stood quickly to help her fasten it around her neck.

"It's not as expensive as the last necklace I bought you, I confess, but this one is more of your style." His hand lingered on her neck for a moment longer than strictly necessary before he returned to his seat.

They ate their food with light conversation, Lisbon telling him of the most recent call she'd had from her niece Annie, she was at college now and doing quite well, despite not being sure what to major in.

"In my experience, most young college kids don't really know what they want to be when they grow up." Jane said as he finished the last of his dinner and waved for the waiter to bring the dessert menu.

"I knew what I wanted to be before I went to college," Lisbon aid, a note of pride in her voice. "I wanted to be in law enforcement."

"Really? I would have had you pegged as the social worker type."

"You're slipping." Lisbon said with a laugh. The quickly ordered dessert so that the waiter would leave and they could continue their conversation in private. They'd spent so much time together over the years, but there still seemed like so much they didn't know about each other. "No, I never wanted to be a social worker. The only think I knew of them at that point in my life was older women that smelled like cabbage and had pinched faces, who hated life and didn't care what children wanted, only what some nameless faceless entity said was best. And let me tell you, their idea of best was rarely if ever the same definition of best that I had." She took a breath, playing with the cross she still wore around her neck. "No, I wanted to be the one who stopped the people who were doing the bad things. In my unsophisticated mind, I think I felt as though I could stop the nameless faceless people from hurting me and my family. I thought that if I could stop the drunk drivers of the world that I could put my family back together."

"You always have had a thing for hopeless causes."

"Why do you think I stuck with you for so long?" Lisbon smiled. "I think I wanted to save you the first time I saw you in the CBI office. You would have been fresh out of…" she cleared her throat, even all these years later she didn't want to remind him of the time he spent in a locked psychiatric unit. "You looked so broken down, so helpless. I couldn't let the pain that was inside of you eat you alive."

"You did save me," Jane said, placing his hand on the middle of the table, as close to her as he could get in the restaurant. "It may have taken a long while, but you did save me from myself. You were my hope on the dark days. You were the bright spot of sun shining in the otherwise stormy skies."

"And you saved me along the way too. You gave me a cause, a different reason for living aside from the job."

"We make quite the pair, don't we? Broken down and barely holding it together."

"Yes but at least now we have each other." Lisbon placed her hand on top of his where it was still resting on the table. They might have taken the scenic route to get where they were, but she knew that they would be stronger for it in the long run.


End file.
